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Walmart opens its first Neighborhood Market in San Jose at Westgate mall

By George AvalosOakland Tribune

Posted:
10/03/2012 04:58:35 PM PDT

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A file photo from a Walmart Neighborhood Market in Panorama City, Calif. Walmart has opened a new Neighborhood Market at Westgate mall in San Jose. Smaller than Walmart's SuperCenter, the Neighborhood Market resembles a traditional supermarket, selling food, health and beauty products and home cleaning supplies. AFP PHOTO / Robyn Beck

"Walmart is pretty competitive with these supermarkets," said Patricia Edwards, chief investment officer with Washington state-based Trutina Financial. "You have the buying power of Walmart, their low pricing, and customers can find some things in Walmart that they can't find anywhere else."

With the new openings, Walmart now has 14 Neighborhood Markets in California and 220 nationwide.

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"You will find the same variety of grocery products that you find in one of our Walmart Supercenters," Garcia said. "But these stores are smaller and are set up for quick and convenient grocery shopping."

The new store in Westgate mall will be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week.

"Walmart will be able to customize the stores if they want," Edwards said. "If they are in a Hispanic neighborhood, you will find more tortillas and less Chinese food. They have a price advantage. And they are nonunion, which helps with costs."

In the West San Jose location, Walmart is operating inside a former Safeway store. In San Ramon, the company took over a retail space that had been vacant for years. Similarly, the Evergreen-area store in San Jose is a once-empty retail building.

"We are reusing existing retail space and we hope to revitalize these buildings that had been vacant," Garcia said. "We want to make these empty spaces economically vibrant again and to help other merchants in the area."